Buchanan injury doubt raises stakes for Villarreal's Napoli clash

Tajon Buchanan is back at Villarreal with a muscle problem in his thigh flexors after playing for Canada.

That Champions League game, kicking off at 21:00 CET on 13 October at the Estadio de la Cerámica, is the second matchday of the league phase. It is no ordinary fixture for Napoli, who already travel without Vergara and Alisson Santos, with Buongiorno out until the start of 2027, and with the McTominay situation still unresolved — the midfielder has a fitness assessment on Wednesday 7 October following his heart arrhythmia surgery. A Villarreal missing one of their starting wingers would not change the shape of Allegri's problems, which remain entirely his own.

Pérez gets players back

While Villarreal wait on the results of Buchanan's scans, head coach Iñigo Pérez is getting key men back. Santi Comesaña has returned to the group after almost three weeks out with an ankle injury, and Juan Foyth continues to train normally. Nicolas Pepé, Logan Costa and Ilias Akhomach are all back from international duty without issues, while Renato Veiga and Pape Gueye are expected to follow shortly. This is not a squad in crisis — it is one recovering players faster than it loses them.

That is why any potential Buchanan absence should be read with caution, not waved about as an excuse. Napoli arrive at the Cerámica with their own heavy absences and an uncertain midfield over McTominay. Hoping that one opposition winger's flexor problem will tip the balance of the game would be the same error of perspective that Napoli's own fanbase refuses to forgive when the club underestimates an opponent just because a name is missing.

Two parallel questions remain before Tuesday: the outcome of Buchanan's examinations at Villarreal, and the result of McTominay's fitness assessment at Castel Volturno, the Napoli training ground. Neither on its own will decide the match.